Motor driven humidifier



Filed .May 3, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet l 7 H 2 7 3 7 UV a a x a a 9 2 ram W J a S w p a 7 l6 9 a n 4 w 5 5 5 x 3 4 7 9 4 a 1 w W 2 w 5 3 \\\N\- I 4F 1 a 4 e 6 x w 4 7 v 7 w 2 8 a a 7 a aw 6 4 L H w Fm WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY Man-ch19, 1935. P. E. HOCHSTETTER I 1,994,912

MOTOR DRIVEN HUMIDIFIER Filed May 3, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 wnuzsszs: INVENTOR Maid! 1935. P. E. HOCHSTETTER 1,994,912

MOTOR DRIVEN HUMIDIF IER' 7 Filed May 3, 1933 4 Sheet s-Sheet 5 WITNESSES: INVENTOR ay Fu/Ef/aC/Zs/effec AQTTOR'NEY 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 3, 1933 P. E. HOCHSTETTER MOTOR- DRIVEN HUMIDIFIER March 19, 1935,

INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESSES avzfly 1/227 Patented Mar. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOTOR DRIVEN HUIVIIDIFIER Application May 3, 1933, Serial No'. 669,179

8 Claims.

An object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple, compact, and easily assembled and disassembled portable motor driven humidifier.

Another object of my invention is to provide a humidifier that shall be effective to provide humidified air containing only invisible moisture.

Other objects will'be either self-evident from or will be pointed out specifically in the course of the description of a preferred form of device embodying my invention, which provides a bottom tank for water, a fan chamber resting thereon and nested therewith, and an open-top hood resting on and nested with the fan chamber. The fan chamber has a perforated peripheral wall to serve as air inlets: the top and bottom walls of the fan chamber serving as guiding means for the entering air.

A vertical motor driven shaft has associated therewith a water pump, a fan, a water spraying device, a spray-receiving ring, and an electric motor at the top of the assembly, all of these elements being supported from a part of the fan chamber by a plurality of resilient members freely movable in all directions.

The pump has associated therewith a strainer and means for preventing swirling of the water entering the pump. A triple-element water-level indicator is provided in the water tank. Peripherally spaced vertical bailies are located in the hood to prevent swirling of the leaving air.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in vertical section through a device embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in horizontal section through a device embodying my invention and taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is another view in horizontal section taken on the line -IIIIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top plan View of the water nozzle constituting a part of the device embodying my invention;

Fig. 5 is a view in vertical section therethrough taken on the line V-V of Fig. 4, the view showing also a part of the suction pipe associated therewith;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the nozzle shown on an enlarged scale;

Fig. '7 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 6, taken on the line VII-VII of Fig. 9;

Fig. 8 is a view in horizontal section of the nozzle, taken on the line VIIL-VIII of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 5 of the drawings but shown on an enlarged scale.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, I have there 5 illustrated an open-top tank 11 which may be substantially circular in horizontal contour and which may be provided with a plurality of stepped or shoulder portions 12 at the bottom end in order to present a pleasing appearance. A pad 13 of felt or other similar material may be sultably secured against the bottom wall of the tank 11 in order that the entire humidifier may be located on a highly polished table surface without scratching the same.

The top edge of the water tank 11 is of slightly less diameter than the main portion of the tank, and the upper edge 14 thereof is bent outwardlyandhas associated therewith a gasket 16 which may be made of any suitable resilient material, such as rubber, in order to provide not only a resilient interfit between the upper edge of tank. 11 with another portion of the humidifier resting thereon, but to provide also, a sound-deadening means. 25

A fan chamber rests directly upon the upper edge 14, or, more particularly, on the gasket 16, the fan chamber including a peripheral wall 1'? provided with a plurality of relatively large openings, one of which is indicated by the reference character 18 in the left-hand side. of Fig. 1 of the drawings, to serve as air inlets. The fan chamber includes also a lower pan 19 and an upper pan 21. The outer edge of lower pan 19 is bent downwardly, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, in order that it may extend substantially parallel to and fit tightly within the wall 1'? at the bottom edge thereof, to which it may be secured by any suitable or desired means, suchas welding, soldering, brazing, or riveting. The lower pan 19 has a relatively small central opening 22 therein for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth.

The upper pan 21 is relatively deeper than the lower pan 19, and is of substantially cup or cen- 0 trally-depressed shape, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the outer peripheral portion thereof being provided with a shoulder seat 23 to serve as a support for another part of the casing. The 5 extreme outer peripheral edge of member 21 is made to extend substantially parallel to the upper edge of wall 17, and to fit closely therewithin'so that suitable securing means may be provided therebetween, either in the shape of rivets,

or by brazing, welding, or soldering the two portions together.

The extreme upper portion of the casing of the humidifier is constituted by a hood 24 which, as shown in the drawings, has its largest diameter at the lower portionthereof, and is provided with a plurality of stepped portions 26 at substantially the intermediate portion of its height in order to provide a pleasing appearance. A gasket 27, which may extend entirely around the lower edge of member 24, fits closely on ,the shoulder portion 23 of member 21, and tightly within the extreme upper edge thereof not only to provide a substantially air-tight, or at least 'holding a tubular water nozzle 42.

closely fitting connection, but also to serve as sound-deadening means.

A motor driven assembly having a vertical axis is located within the triple-part housing or casing hereinbefore described, and includes a vertical shaft motor 28 which may be of any suitable or desired construction, and which includes a substantially stationary stator housing, at the lower end of which there are: provided a plurality of radially extending arms 29, which are utilized in a manner to be hereinafter described, to support the motor and a plurality of other parts operated or driven by the motor.

The motor is further provided with a rotor (not shown'specifically in the drawings) and a rotor shaft 31 shown as extending below the motor 28 in Fig. 1 of the drawings. While any type of electric motor may be utilized, that is, either a direct-current motor or an alternatingcurrent motor, I have thus far provided devices of this kind with what is usually termed a capacitor motor, and I have illustrated a condenser 32 as being suitably supported by a clamping means 33 from any suitable or desired stationary part of the humidifier assembly. I have further illustrated conductors 34 as connected both to the stator winding (not shown specifically in the drawings) and to the condenser, and extending through a bushing 36 in the upper pan 21 and then outwardly through a bushing 37 in the peripheral wall 17, so that an electrical connecttion can be effected between the driving motor and a suitable source of supply of electric energy in a manner well known in the art.

A cap 38 is suitably secured on the lower end of rotor shaft 31 as by means of a short headless. set screw 39,.the cap being provided with a central opening so that it may fit on the shaft 31, and with an annular fiange 41, which is provided with internal screw threads for receiving and The upper end of the outer periphery of member 42 is suitably screw threaded so that it may interfit with the inner surface of cap 38 and, more particularly, the flange 41, a headless set screw 43 being provided in flange 41 to lock the two members together.

Reference may be had to Figs. 4 to 9 of the drawings, in which the nozzle is shown in various portions and sections, and it may be noted that the upper portion of nozzle 42 is provided with inner vertically extending recesses 44, through which water pumped or forced upwardly by means to be hereinafter. described may flow, the water then flowing radially outwardly through other slots 46. The vertically extending grooves 44 extend downwardly through a certain distance and are then limited; as by a shoulder portion 47, which is shown more particularly in Figs. and 9 of the drawings.

I have shown the depth of certain parts of the water paths in Fig. 9 of the drawings on an enlarged scale, and it may be noted that the radial thickness of a plurality of parts of the member 42 above the shoulder portion 47 varies with the height thereof above the shoulder 47. Thus it will be noted thatthe thickness of the wall on the line indicated by the numerals VI'IVII is greater than the thickness of the wall towards the top of member 42. I consider this an important element in my invention, as it cooperates with a water-spraying device, to be hereinafter described, to ensure that the amount of water provided at successive vertical planes of the radial openings 46 in member 42 will be substantially uniform, that is, that the same amount of water is available at the top of the radial slots 46 as there is at the bottom of the radial slots 46. This, in combination with other elements to be hereinafter detailed, insures that a plurality of superposed sprays of finely divided particles of water will be available, all of these sprays containing substantially the same amount of finely divided water.

A pump tube 48 is fitted into the lower end of tubular nozzle 42 and extends downwardly into tank 11, the lower end of pump tube 48 being located a small distance above the bottom of tank 11, and being closed by a disc 49, which has a small central opening 51 therein, in order to permit the entrance of water from tank 11. A pump or other water-raisingmeans includes tube 48 and a strip of sheet metal 52 therein, which extends diametrally across the lower end of tube 48. It is obvious that when the pump tube 48 and member 52 are rotated at a relatively high speed water will .be drawn into the bottom of the tube through opening 51, and will be forced upwardly by centrifugal action thereon so that it will ultimately reach the upper end of nozzle 42 and be drawn radially or substantially radially therefrom through the plurality of openings 46 hereinbefore described.

In order to ensure that no solid particles, which may be located in or fall into 'the water in tank 11, shall reach the nozzle 42, I provide a substantially cylindrical strainer 53, which surrounds the pump tube 48 and which may be made in any suitable or desired manner, and may include an upper stiffening ring 54 and a lower stifiening ring 56. A member 57 of substantially flat cup shape may be suitably secured against the upper surface of the bottom wall of tank 11, and has a resilient gasket 58 associated with its upper edge, and in which the lower end of strainer 53 may fit. In order to prevent swirling of water drawn in through the wall of strainer 53, I provide a plurality of baflle plates 59 which, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, may be of substantially L-shape so as to closely surround the pump tube 48 at its bottom portion.

A spraying means is mounted on the upper end of nozzle 42 and includes a plurality of discs 61,

62 and 63, which are of different external di ameters, the diameter of discs 61 being the largest, the diameter of discs 62 being intermediate in dimension, and the diameter of discs 63 being the smallest.

While I do not desire to. be limited thereto, I have found that wire mesh orscreen may be utilized to advantage in the construction of this plural-disc spraying element, the two considerations which obtain in a device of this kind being that the water shall be permitted to move radially outwardly in a substantially free and unobstructed path, and that the outer periphery of each disc shall be serrated or be provided with a plurality of relatively fine sharp points. Means for holding the plurality of discs together may include a plurality of machine bolts 64 extending therethrough and a suitable number of spacers 66, which may be in the form of small washers, located between adjacent discs. Each of the bolts 64 may be provided with cooperating 'nuts in the usual manner.

A fan 6'7 is mounted on, and at the lower end of, nozzle 42, for which purpose the outer pe-- riphery of the lower end of nozzle 42 is provided .with screw threads, the lower end of the tubular part of fan 6'7 being provided with internal operating screw threads so that the fan may be screwed on the nozzle 42. The upper end of the tubular part of the fan may engage the inner periphery of the discs 63 and press them upwardly against the face of the flange portion 41. The fan 6'7 is provided with a plurality of fan blades 68 which are located within the upturned central part of upper pan 21, there being a slight clearanee only between the outer edge of'each fan blade 68 and the inner annular edge of meber 21. Y

The plurality of sprayer discs 61, 62, and 63 will be effective to throw radially outwardly a relatively large amount of atomized water, all of which may not be absorbed or taken up otherwise by air which is forced upwardly by the fan blades 68 during operation of the device, and I therefore, provide a spray ring 69 axially aligned with the sprayer discs. The spray ring is in the form of an annulus of a relatively soft material, which may be in the form of a strip of soft metal such as lead, bent to the frusto-conical shape shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and which may be supported from. upper pan 21 by a plurality of peripherally spaced brackets '71. As the spray ring 69 has a smaller diameter at its upper edge than at its lower edge any water striking it will be arrested and deflected downwardly against the upper pan 21 and will be entrained in the annular trough or recess indicated generally at '72 in Fig. 1 of the drawings, from which place it may return to tank 11 by a drain tube '73. A plurality of openings '74 is provided in a lower pan 19 through one of which the drain tube '73 may extend, while the others permit of water poured into the hood to overflow the inner rim of pan 21 and then flow through these openings into the water tank.

It is very difiicult to construct a motor operating at relatively high speed in which the rotating parts are so balanced that no vibration whatever wiil occur either during the starting or the stopping of the device or during its operation. It has been found possible to make the design such that the rotating parts will have a so-called critical speed which is well below the operating speed. This means, of course, that the device will operate properly at normal speed but that vibration of the rotating parts will occur not only during the time of coming up to speed but also during deceleration of the device to standstill. It is further well known that it is highly desirable to make this critical speed occur at a value much below the normal operating speed in order that any vibration of the rotating parts will occur at relatively low speed. Thus, in a case of a four-pole alternating-current motor operating on a 60-cycle source of supply, it is desirable to make the critical speed occur at, say 200 or 306 R. P. -M., which is, of course, well below the normal operating speed of approximately 1700 R. P. M.

I obtain this relatively low critical speed by resiliently supporting the motor and the assembly driven thereby on a plurality of helical springs '76, the upper ends of which are respectively secured to the outer end of-the arms 29, as by clamping bolts '77, while the lower ends of the respective springs '76 are similarly secured to the upper end of supporting rods '78. In 'order to support the rod '78, of which I may use three for each motor, I provide a plurality of tubular spacing members '79, 81 and 82 thereon, tubular spacer '79 extending between a nut 83 used to secure the spring '76 to rod '78 and the upper face of the upper pan 21. Spacer 81 extends below the upper and lower pans, while spacer 82 extends below the lower pan 19 and a small distance below the bottom end of pump tube 48. A nut 84 is provided in the bottom of rod '78 in order to clamp all of the tubular spacers on the .rod '78, and also to maintain them in proper.

operative position relative to the upper and lower pans of the fan chamber. It will be noted that this provides a relatively rigid assembly of the fan chamber, and, as the lower ends of rods '78 extend below pump tube 48, it is possible to remove the motor assembly while located within the fan chamber and the upper hood 24 and rest it on a suitable horizontal surface, such as a table top, when it is necessary to add more water in the tank 11 or when it becomes desirable to remove any sediment therefrom which has been deposited therein from water located for some time in the tank.

It is, of course, desirable to have a continuous indication of the amount of water in the tank 11, and I provide a triple-element water level indicator for this purpose, each element including a substantially vertically-extending tube 86 and a float 87 in each tube. Indicating discs 88 are located also in each of the tubes 86, and rods 89 are located between the respective floats and indicating discs, the rods 89 being of different lengths in the different tubes 86, as may be seen by reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings.- it will, therefore, be evident that if an amount of water is located in tank 11, whose height is equal to substantially the distance between the uppermost disc 88 (that is, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings) and a transparent cover plate 91 located immediately above the tubes 86, that indicator disc 88 having the longest rod 89 extending between it and a float 8'7 will engage plate 91. If the heighth of the water in tank 11 is greater, disc 88 having the intermediate length of rod 89 between it and its float will also be in engagement with plate 91, while if the tank 11 is substantially filled with water, disc 88 in the third tube will also engage plate 91, thereby indicating that the tank is completely filled.

The rotation of the fan blades 68 will, of course, tend to impart some rotating or swirling movement to the air which is forced upwardly thereby through the water sprayed radially or substantially radially outward from spraying discs 61, 62, and 63, and in order to counteract this tendency, I provide a plurality of peripherally spaced it is invisible.

The cooperating shapes of the lower and the upper pans of the fan chamber provide air paths for the air drawn in through the openings 18 which make for highly efiicient and silent operation of the fan, and the shape of the spray ring 69 aids also in confining the upwardly moving column of air to the central portion of the hood 24, and the spray ring being made of a relatively soft material, such as lead, is substantially silent in its operation of arresting the outward movement of excess water. The interfitting portions of the casing with the gaskets there'between also tend toward providing easily assemblable and disassemblable interfitting portions having little or no tendency towards relative movement and, therefore, noise.

Various modifications may be made in the device embodying my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art or are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A motor driven humidifier including a water tank, a fan chamber thereon having a lower pan resting on the tank and an upper pan spaced from the lower pan and cooperating therewith to provide inlet air paths, a fan located within the fan chamber, a vertical-shaft motor driving the fan and supported by the lower pan, and a hood supported directly by the upper pan.

2. A motor driven humidifier including a water supply, a rotatable vertical-axis shaft, a fan on the shaft, a water sprayer on the shaft above the fan, and a lead annulus, of frusto-conical shape, surrounding the water sprayer to arrest outward movement of any water not taken up by air moved upwardly by the fan, and to deflect radially inwardly the air moved by the fan.

3. A motor driven humidifier comprising a water tank, a fan chamber thereabove having a lower pan and an upper pan defining air inlet paths therebetween, a vertical motor driven shaft, a

fan on the shaft, a sprayer on the shaft above the fan, a spray ring having its spray-receiving surface inclined to cause excess water striking it into the upper pan and a drain pipe to return said excess water to the tank.

4, A motor driven humidifier including a rotat able vertical shaft, a multi-di'sc water sprayer thereon, a tubular nozzlewithin the sprayer having radial slots in its wall communicating with the sprayer discs, and having also longitudinal grooves, of axially-varying depth, in the inner,

surface of the wall connecting with the axial slots and effective to ensure the delivery of substantially equal amounts of water to the individual discs of the sprayer.

5. A motor driven humidifier including a vertical shaft motor, a tubular nozzle secured to and depending from the motor, a plural-layer sprayer on the nozzle adjacent to its upper end, a fan assembly on the nozzle having a tubular member engaging the sprayer to hold it on the nozzle and means on the tubular member to secure it on the nozzle.

6. A motor driven humidifier including a verti- -cal shaft motor, a cap member of inverted cupshape secured to the lower end of the motor shaft, a tubular nozzle having radial openings therein adjacent to the top end and fitting into the cap, a plural-layer sprayer on the nozzle axially alined with the radial openings, a fan assembly on the nozzle having a tubular member surrounding the nozzle and clamping the sprayer against the cap.

'7. A motor driven humidifier including a vertical rotatable tubular nozzle having a plurality of radial openings therein near its upper end, a sprayer thereon including a plurality of sets of spaced-apart layers of wire mesh, the diameters of the respective sets being different and means below the nozzle and secured thereto to elevate water thereinto when said means and the nozzle are rotated.

8. A motor driven humidifier including an open top water tank, a spraying and air-moving assembly including a fan chamber having a lower pan resting onthe upper edge of the tank and an'upper pan spaced from the lower pan and cooperating therewith to provide air inlet paths, a fan located within the fan chamber, a vertical shaft motor driving the fan and a plurality of rods extending above and below the lower pan and supporting the motor at their upper ends and adapted to support the fan chamber, the fan and the motor when removed from they water tank.

PAUL E. HOCHSTETTER. 

